1. Field
Provided are angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) derived peptides, and a use of the peptides for inhibition of binding between Ang2 and integrin or prevention and/or treatment of a disease caused by the activation of Ang2 or the binding between Ang2 and integrin.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tie2 is a vascular endothelial cell surface receptor that binds angiopoietins, protein growth factors involved in the formation and maintenance of blood vessels. Angiopoietin-2 (Ang2), a Tie2 antagonist, competes with angiopoietin 1 (Ang1), a Tie2 agonist, to suppress signal transduction by Tie2. Thus, Ang2 inhibits the binding between Ang1 and Tie2, which maintains the stability of vascular endothelial cells. Consequently, Ang2 promotes angiogenesis through dynamic rearrangement of blood vessels.
Since angiogenesis is an essential element of cancer growth, cancers may be prevented or treated by suppressing angiogenesis through inhibition of the Tie2-dependent functions of Ang2. Indeed, various attempts to prevent the progression of cancers using Ang2 specific antibodies have been made.
Recently, it has been observed that Ang2 can not only induce the growth of cancers through Tie2-dependent angiogenesis, but can also promote the metastasis of cancers through a Tie2-independent mechanism. To inhibit the Ang2-mediated progression of cancers, it is important to suppress Ang2-Tie2 signaling. However, blocking a Tie2-independent signaling pathway (e.g., an Ang2-integrin signaling pathway) would also be desirable to enhance the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs. Thus, there remains a need for compositions and methods that can inhibit the Tie2-independent signaling pathway, such as the Ang2-integrin signaling pathway.